Forge turn from national title to CPL playoffs
A 1-1 draw in Langford on Sunday left Hamilton two points short of the Shield, and now a familiar opponent waits in the semifinals.
· by Colin Radek · playoffs · cpl shield · bobby smyrniotis · atletico ottawa
Forge finished the regular season with a trophy already secured and a second one just out of reach. The Canadian Championship winners drew 1-1 at last-place Pacific on Sunday while Cavalry beat Vancouver 1-0 to take the CPL Shield, their third and first since 2023, finishing two points clear of Hamilton.
The travel load told. Forge returned to Hamilton on Thursday, trained on Friday, then flew across three time zones for the finale. Brian Wright set up Tristan Borges for a well-struck opener, but Ronan Kratt equalized in the 72nd minute, and head coach Bobby Smyrniotis made an unusually large and early set of substitutions around the hour mark. He pointed to tired legs and a soft field, and noted that playing an MLS side or a Champions Cup opponent normally means about 30 percent more physical output, so with extra time on Wednesday night it amounted to roughly two full CPL games of energy in one.
Smyrniotis was content with the body of work. "I feel very good about our season," he said, citing 58 points, tied with last year for the club's highest total, achieved after losing Kyle Bekker and dealing with other disruptions. He also highlighted the spread of the scoring: Forge's leading scorer, Ismael Oketokoun, finished with five goals, while league leader Loïc Kwemi of FC Supra du Québec had 15. In all, 19 different Forge players scored in league play. Only Cavalry had more than 10 scorers, with 13.
The Shield race came down to the two trips to Spruce Meadows. Forge led 1-0 in both and took nothing from either: beaten 2-1 on Aug. 15 after a red card left them with 10 men, then held to a 1-1 draw six weeks ago by an injury-time goal. Despite that, Hamilton lost just once in league play since mid-August, with draws proving costly.
Next comes a two-legged semifinal series against Atlético Ottawa, who Forge visit on Sunday, November 1. Smyrniotis praised the opponent's identity under Brazilian coach Gustavo Leal and said the recent meeting between the clubs helps.
"Us playing them just a couple of weeks back is a good thing because there's a familiarity," he said. "I think we've been excellent in this last month, so as long as we can keep this trajectory, we're in a good spot."